(My) Immortal as Grassroots Media
by Convergence Culture
Summary: (My) Immortal as Grassroots Media


AN: i sed stup flaming up prepz! c if dis chaptr is srupid!1111 it delz wit rly sris issus! sp c 4 urself if itz ztupid brw fangz 2 ma frend raven 4 hleping me!

_(My) Immortal_ is considered by many the most infamous piece of fan fiction of all time. Written by Tara Gilesbie/Gillespie – a school-aged girl, or possibly a troll – the story follows the life of the "goffic" vampire, witch, and classic Mary Sue, Ebony Dark'ness Raven Dementia Way. Although the host site removed _(My) Immortal_ a couple of years after its debut, its popularity was already such that it could not be deleted from the memories and hearts of the wide-eyed, mouths-covered readers old and new ... Or, of course, from the Internet.

_(My) Immortal_, the work of fan fiction, is set in J.K. Rowling's wizarding world of Harry Potter. Tara, whose primary character greatly resembles her, as is true for most Mary Sues (AN: I sed stup flaming ok ebony's name is ENOBY nut mary su OK!), has a penchant for misusing the majority of the conventions of the English language and even the English society. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, _(My) Immortal_ is quite the compelling read, object for analysis, and overall playground. And I am not the only one who thinks so. Canada-based Mediajunkie Studios has put together a Web series, _(My) Immortal: The Web Series._ "Made for and by serious Potterheads," as stated by Brian McLellan, runner of the series' Tumblr blog, and actor for Loopin in the show, (My) Immortal: The Web Series calls itself a parody of the fic by the same name, but it is so much more. _(My) Immortal: The Web Series_ is Henry Jenkins's idea of grassroots creative production and consumption at its most creatively produced and consumed.

_(My) Immortal_, the fan fiction, is bad writing epitomized. Whether the author was a troll – systematically "correcting" proper language and behavior until the text resembled "We started frenching passively and we took off each others clothes enthusiastically. He felt me up before I took of my top. Then I took off my black leather bra and he took off his pants. We went on the bed and started making out naked and then he put his boy's thingy in mine and we HAD SEX" (AN: c is dat stupid?)" – or Tara was for real – clicking "Replace All" on Spell Check until "passionately" (however it was misspelled) became "passively," and what should have been "off" stayed as "of," and not ever taking another look through – _(My) Immortal_ did get some things right. Or, at least, it gave the cast and crew of (My) Immortal: The Web Series the ideas and reason that they needed to get their own act together.

"Fans have always been early adapters of new media technologies; their fascination with fictional universes often inspires new forms of cultural production, ranging from costumes to fanzines and, now, digital cinema. Fans are the most active segment of the media audience, one that refuses to simply accept what they are given, but rather insists on the right to become full participants. None of this is new. What has shifted is the visibility of fan culture. The Web provides a powerful new distribution channel for amateur cultural production. Amateurs have been making home movies for decades; these movies are going public" (Jenkins, Convergence Culture, 136).

_(My) Immortal: The Web Series_, made entirely by and for the fans, features not only great amateur characterization, writing, and production – not only for what it is based off of, but in general – but also great things that big-name medias like Warner Brothers would not be able to get away with even if they wanted to. Like persons of color in mainstream roles! (Harry is Asian! Hermione is Black! Real, not token representations!) And persons of varying sexualities, most queer! A Tumblr user asked and answered, "I love the My Immortal web series so much like how do you not only make a Enoby Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way into a compelling, interesting character but make you shIP HER WITH A CANON CHARACTER UNIRONICALLY? Fucking witchcraft. all I'm saying." Enoby, misspelled Mary Sue turned round character, is compelling. ("Ebione" is the ship name, in case you were wondering.)

J.K. Rowling has given her fans more than most – from a world which invites Sorting Hat quizzes, encourages House pride, and suggests character head-canons, to an interactive Web-site which makes all of those things possible and official – but the grassroots media has given the fans something more open and honest: themselves. If they can make Enoby and even Tom Riddle into well-known and beloved and characters, interact with fans like it's their full-time job, and fun their own ventures, then grassroots medias are doing something good and right.

"Initially, the computer offered expanded opportunities for interacting with the media content, and as long as it operated on that level, it was relatively easy for media companies to commodify and control what took place. Increasingly, though, the Web has become a site of consumer participation that includes many unauthorized and unanticipated ways of relating to media content. Though this new participatory culture has its roots in practices that have occurred just below the radar of the media industry throughout the twentieth century, the Web has pushed that hidden layer of cultural activity into the foreground, forcing the media industries to confront its implications for their commercial interests. Allowing consumers to interact with media under controlled circumstances is one thing; allowing them to participate in the production and distribution of cultural goods - on their own terms - is something else altogether" (Jenkins, Convergence Culture, 137).

Henry Jenkins, examining grassroots medias on the cusp of their blow-up, is interested in how the lines between the big names and the little names will have to be re-drawn. I, however, am more interested in how those lines will have to disappear. Netflix has put out their own, female-centric show via their own platform, and UbyKotex (yes, the feminine hygiene product company) has put out their own, female/lesbian/vampire-centric Web series. _(My) Immortal: The Web Series_ is the future. As Jenkins says, "whatever lines they draw are going to have to respect the growing public consensus about what constitutes fair use of media content and must allow the public to participate meaningfully in their own culture" (173). It is our own culture. In this day and age, participation = production.

AN: I sed stup flming da stryo! if ur a prep den dnot red it! u kin tel weder ur a prep or not by ma quiz itz on ma hompage. if ur not den u rok. if u r den FOOOOOK UFFFFFFFFFF!

Real Author's Note: All "AN"s provided by Tara


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